I will be spending the last few weeks in this special journey here with my mom. She is supporting me in recovering my health and I am supporting her and her mission to begin philanthropic work in India.

After more than 30 years as a practicing physician in the US, she wants to give back in the country of her birth. Yesterday, we visited a wonderful organization called Door Step School. This organization helps poor children in Mumbai and Pune slums to go to school. I remember visiting their first school in a Mumbai slum when I was six. It was a make-shift room built of tin panels. Since that time they have blossomed to over 200 school sites and 500 staff under the leadership of the amazing, dynamic woman you can see her in the picture. She has so much energy!!

As we learned yesterday, their work is now focusing a lot more on serving the children of migrant workers. Migrant workers migrate for work and in many cases are construction workers. All throughout India there is a HUGE construction boom going on…malls, high-rise apartments, industrial parks, you name it. And most unfortunately the construction workers, or migrant workers (many of who are women), are very poorly paid, live in horrible conditions and migrate along with their children who will never have the opportunity to go to school because they go from construction site to construction site. [Read more...]

For me devotion has saved my life, it has brought me closer to understanding the love and power that exists within me and all beings. It has brought me into a place of peace, humility and deep service in Birthing my Mission and calling in the world.

In this week’s video I offer you a definition and four simple steps you can take to go deeper into your path of devotion in order to birth your Mission and Movement in the world.

I’ve been meeting with the women in the village. I’ve been here only a couple days and already I have been told about two women who were killed in the community, one by her husband and the other by her in-laws. I’m sure there are many more cases.

This is very common here in India, unfortunately, and still a shock to experience it first hand. I’m still understanding everything, but for sure domestic violence has come up a number of times. Husbands drink and the beat their wives. I am told it’s more predominant in the poorer castes here, where the women are also working in the nearby factories and are shouldering a huge part of the family duties. Because the women are working, they can’t be at home to make sure the children go to school and so many children are still not going to school, and so the cycle repeats. However, I am also told that domestic abuse is rampant in all castes and know that it sure was in my direct lineage as well.

This being said, I have been so touched by all the meetings I have had with women. Basically, there are about 10 women’s savings groups that have been set up through the trust my father started. Women come together to pool money together and then one woman will take out the money to use it for a specific purpose, usually a wedding or some household repair. I have been meeting with the leaders to see how perhaps the work can expand and through this have become aware of the levels of violence in the community. The leaders are so strong and beautiful and dynamic. I have more insight into my own fabric, though obviously born into very different circumstances. So, I’m staying open to where the energy may lead… Jai MA!

Greetings from Gujarat, India! I’m here in the home state of my ancestors and also the home state of Gandhi.

It is such a deep blessing that I was recently able to visit Gandhi’s ashram here in Gujarat.

Sitting in the courtyard of his former home, I created this short video for you to capture the energy of Gandhi’s message to BE THE CHANGE!

What came across most strongly from Gandhi’s ashram was his inner search for TRUTH, which he called GOD.

His inner spiritual, or personal journey, was the place from which he birthed one of the most massive social movements in human history, India’s Independence movement.

So what I’d like to leave you with this week, is how important it is to commit to your inner truth, and particularly how important it is to establish a daily practice to open to this inner truth as you birth your mission and movement in the world.